The Sheikh’s Royal Seduction: Desert Sheikhs Book One Read online

  “The slots are rigged.” His father slumped into a chaise longue facing the open balcony doors. “And those card games are unfair. I can’t stand playing with cheaters.”

  His father’s moral rigor most likely only stemmed from the fact that he’d lost millions of dollars. That’s usually how it went, at least. But he almost never came to chitchat. He had to have an ulterior motive.

  “What do you want?”

  Patar harrumphed as he arranged a pillow beneath his lower back. “I’ve heard that there is a foreign woman in my house.”

  Zatar crossed his arms, keeping his face neutral. A visiting veterinarian wouldn’t be tolerated. His father detested the zoo and had threatened for the past six months to remove the expense from the palace budget. But the money wasn’t an issue. Zatar figured it was the link to his mother’s memory.

  But a fleeting love interest? His father would condone that. As long as he omitted the whole American part. “Foreign? Of course not. Just something to pass the time.”

  He hated speaking to his father about women, especially because he had to copy his style. Now that his mother was gone, women were strictly objects of enjoyment. Most days, Zatar wondered if his mother had ever been anything more than a well decorated accessory to Patar. Maybe his father had kept up this behavior in secret, with a bevy if women on the side. His mother’s death had cast everything Zatar thought he knew into doubt. Nothing was solid or straightforward anymore.

  “You have a whole circus of things to pass the time,” Patar said, sending him a pointed look. “That harem is partly for you, my boy. All purebred, too.”

  Zatar shook his head, turning away to hide the disgust on his face. Sharing women with his father was not his idea of normal. “I’m not fond of any of them.”

  “You don’t need to be fond of them to have fun.”

  Zatar clenched a fist behind his back. Of course this would come up with Alex in hearing range. Now she’d know the full extent of the palace absurdities.

  “Besides,” the king went on, “You’ll marry one of them soon. I won’t live forever, you know. Your future needs to be secured. You need an heir. You need a wife and son.”

  Zatar cleared his throat, curling his toes into the plush rug near his bed. “I understand.”

  “So pick one.” The king waved his hand dismissively. “Or I can pick for you.”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  “Ilia is crazy for you.” The king shifted in his chair, turning slightly to look back at Zatar. “And she won’t disappoint, either. She’s skilled in…all the important things.” He gave a gruff laugh. “And these are most important for the long run, my boy.”

  Zatar pressed a finger to the space between his eyes. “Father—”

  “Or Malika,” the king went on. “She sort of just lies there, but she’d be a doting wife.”

  Zatar wilted on the inside. He had plenty to explain to Alex once his father left. “I appreciate the recommendation, but—”

  “You must choose soon. I demand it.” The king popped to his feet. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, though.” He pressed a hand to Zatar’s shoulder, a sickening grin covering his face. A golden molar glinted in the back of his smile. “I’m just looking out for you.”

  The king patted Zatar’s cheek and then sauntered out of the room. Zatar pushed the door shut and then hurried to the closet, brushing aside the curtain with a grimace.

  Alex stared back at him, her eyes wide as saucers.

  6

  “Before you say anything—” Zatar began.

  “Oh. My. God!” Alex could barely move from her spot, sitting rigid on a chair surrounded by endless pairs of alligator shoes that were probably worth more than her life insurance. “Is he really that much of a pig?”

  “Yes.”

  Alex blinked and then rose, disgust churning through her. “Like father, like son” was the old saying. So maybe it was better she’d overheard this before giving in to the rising urge to have her way with this man. He might be gorgeous on the outside, but if he believed even a fraction of what his father did…forget it. Hotness didn’t stand up against misogyny.

  “Well, I’m gonna go back to my room now.” She hurried past him, but Zatar grabbed her wrist.

  “Wait. Let me explain.”

  The warmth of his hand on her arm sent chills through her. His deep eyes sent a shock wave from her toes to her heart.

  “My father is a pig. You are right. My mother’s death has changed him…unless he’s always been this way. I cannot tell. I wonder if I’ve ever known him at all. Ever since she passed, he’s treated women as playthings.”

  Alex swallowed back a knot in her throat. “So he’s dealing with his grief in a very unfortunate way.”

  Zatar loosened his grip on her, anguish creasing his face. He tugged off his keffiyah and tossed it on top of his dresser, raking a hand through his hair. She stared at the thick locks, catching a whiff of sandalwood.

  “I’ve dealt with grief in unfortunate ways myself. I spent the first three months drunk out of my mind. I tried to numb myself with sex. I gambled.” He sighed, slinking into the chaise longue his father had chosen. “But it was a phase. I think this is who my father truly is.”

  Alex softened at the obvious pain here. She had a father who would never utter words even close to those the king had spoken to his son. And being on the receiving end of that had to be strange too. “The harem girls said that sometimes they shack up with both you and your father.”

  Zatar made a noise of disgust, his eyes fluttering shut as his head fell back against the chaise. “That’s foul.”

  “Yeah. I kinda thought so too.” Alex sank into a chair nearby, enjoying the bass-y pulse of music seemingly emanating from the walls themselves. His room was elegant but understated; just as luxurious as her own but with more of a personal touch here. A man’s influence in the opulence. His room was darker and more muted, rife with rust-colored drapes and chocolate-brown accents.

  “My father loves to keep them around because he loves the attention. All of them think they have a shot at becoming the next queen. But they disgust me more every day.” Zatar’s gaze studied something far away outside, as if he were peering into another realm altogether. “I actually want a relationship. Like what I thought my father and mother truly had. Something more than just shallow sex. But maybe they never had that at all.”

  Alex nibbled on the inside of her lip, turning over his words in her head. What a strange speed bump in someone’s life: finding out the basis of your relationship goals was possibly all a lie to begin with.

  “I want real love, and I haven’t found it yet.” His gaze swung over to hers, rooting her to her spot with the sincerity in his eyes. So maybe she’d been wrong about him. Maybe the apple really did fall extremely far from the tree. “But I had a lot more hope when my mother was alive.”

  Alex felt the urge to comfort him. She straightened, unsure where the boundaries of appropriate behavior were anymore. This prince had just confessed his deepest wounds and his fractured relationship with his father. This visit gets stranger by the hour.

  She must have stayed quiet for too long, because Zatar’s face hardened, and he sat up. “I should probably focus on some work tasks that require my attention.”

  The shift in tone told her she was being quietly dismissed. She searched his face as he stood up, resuming his more formal stance.

  It didn’t seem right to hear all that without acknowledging it, though. Clearly, the prince was hurting.

  “Hey.” She stood, placing a hand on his arm. “I’m really sorry about your mother’s death. I can’t imagine what that must be like.”

  Zatar stepped toward her, putting them only inches apart. Her breath hitched, as her body registered his nearness almost before her brain did. His heat enveloped her, clouding her vision as she took him in from so close.

  “You shouldn’t be ashamed of what your father has done. All you can do is co
ntrol your own behavior.”

  Zatar’s gaze searched her face. Her hand burned on his bicep, fingers twitching.

  “You’re a good man. You clearly love Sala and just want her to be better. I don’t think you would have kept me prisoner if it weren’t for that love.” She cracked a grin, but he didn’t smile in return. His gaze hit her with such a force she thought it might split her in two.

  A long silence stretched between them, and somehow it felt as though they’d grown nearer without any sensation of moving. Like space itself had shrunk between them, shriveling in the intensity of their stare.

  Finally, he spoke, his husky whisper sending a surge of moisture to her panties. “I’m sorry about keeping you here against your will.” His hand traveled up to graze her arm, fingertips dancing lightly over the goose-pimpled flesh there. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

  His question left room for only one answer.

  She knew exactly what might make it up to her. And the longer she stared into his eyes, the harder it was to tell herself no.

  * * *

  Zatar lowered his face toward hers without even consciously deciding to. His lips were destined for hers, and the eagerness in her sky-blue eyes told him that she’d been wanting it too.

  He paused before his lips touched hers, her hot breath meeting his. She whimpered, fingernails digging into his bicep. That was all he needed to know. He lowered his mouth, coaxing a sweet, light kiss out of those rosebud lips.

  When he pulled away, her face was flushed and she looked ravenous. Zatar dove in for another kiss, feeling Alex acquiesce entirely. Her palm smoothed up his arm and hooked around his neck. The scent of the palace soap mingled with a scent uniquely Alex’s, something floral and light. He moaned through the next kiss, his hands smoothing up the sides of her neck. Her skin was pure creaminess and silk beneath his fingers. She whimpered again, pushing up onto tiptoes to deepen the kiss.

  He smiled, tangling his fingers into the underside of her ponytail. He tugged at the elastic without opening his eyes, desperate to get her hair down. When the band finally came free, her silky-smooth hair tumbled over his hands. He pulled back, her kiss-bitten lips making his cock twitch.

  “You are so beautiful.” His voice came out just as reverent as he felt. She looked at him shyly, running her flattened palms over the front of his robe.

  “Oh yeah? Why should I believe you? You’re a prince with access to the most beautiful women in the world. I’m just a regular girl from the Big Apple,” she said.

  “But there’s nothing regular about you.” He skipped kisses over her jawline, knotting his fingers into the shining curtain of hair. “You should know that more than anyone.”

  She laughed throatily, tipping her head back as his kisses explored the underside of her chin. “It’s hard to feel anything but regular in your opulent palace, your highness.”

  He smiled at the title. It was sexy to hear her use it here. But partly because he liked the undertone of tongue-in-cheek attitude.

  “You are truly the most exotic one of all.” He sucked lightly at her neck, loving the tight inhale it provoked. If she liked that, he had a whole arsenal of ways he could make her gasp again.

  “Come on. Even against the three-legged rhino?” Her voice came out huskier, tinged with the fog of lust. He wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her roughly against him. Let her feel the evidence of his arousal for herself.

  “You win against Paolo. Because Paolo doesn’t make me feel like this.” He ground his hips in a slow circle. Her gaze shot up to meet his, fire in her eyes.

  Knock knock knock.

  Zatar stilled, finding the same confusion in her face that he felt down to his bones. There couldn’t be someone at the door. He pressed his lips to hers, almost an effort to will the summons away, but the knock sounded again. He groaned through the kiss.

  “I need to answer that. And I must hide you again. Just in case.”

  “Oh sure,” she whispered. “Send me back to the shadows.”

  He grinned, pressing his forehead against hers. There was no doubt he could stay here in this embrace for the rest of the day. The rest of the week. He might never get enough of those sweet kisses. “Just give me a moment.”

  Alex headed for the closet, looking back at him over her shoulder with an expression that said it all. The knock had been the worst timed intrusion in all of history. His throbbing cock wouldn’t let him forget, either. Zatar straightened his robes and replaced the keffiyah. With a deep breath, he tugged open the door.

  Timak greeted him, bowing slightly. “Sir. I’ve come to inform you that the medicine has arrived.”

  Zatar’s back stiffened, all thoughts of kisses evaporating. “Amazing. You have it here?”

  “Yes. It’s in the zoo. But we must administer it, and after seeing what is required, I think the veterinarian might be more skilled.”

  Zatar nodded. “Of course. We’ll summon her.”

  “But she is nowhere to be found, sir. I looked for her first, so that we could all go together. But nobody has seen her, and she’s not in her bedroom.”

  Zatar tried not to look guilty as he weighed his options. Timak was, and always had been, a firm non-participant in gossip and palace drama. If anything, he was always on Zatar’s side. It might be a bit embarrassing, but Sala was more important. Zatar turned back into the room.

  “Alex. Please come here.”

  Timak’s eyes widened briefly when Zatar stepped aside to wait for Alex to reveal herself. She came out of the closet timidly, waving at Timak.

  “Hey.” Amusement shone on her face, but they could laugh about this later.

  “Timak has come to let us know the medicine arrived. We should go administer it immediately.”

  Alex’s brow set in a straight line as she tucked her hair behind her ear, her professional veneer returning. “Yes. Of course. Let’s go.”

  7

  Alex followed Zatar and Timak on wobbly legs as her body struggled to reorient after the sudden one-eighty. Lust thrummed through her despite the change in directive, her pussy pulsing with unresolved desire.

  She stared at the back of Zatar’s sturdy frame as the three of them wound along the paths leading to the zoo. She hadn’t imagined he’d be so firm underneath all those robes. His juicy lips had made it impossible to turn away. And the hardness he’d ground up against her. She stumbled, and Zatar turned with a look of concern. She offered a small smile, waving him off. Everything’s fine here. Just imagining what your cock looks like.

  Never once in all her years of attending the rich, powerful, and famous had she ever even remotely considered hooking up with a client.

  But Zatar’s sultry gaze and those mind-wiping kisses made it impossible to pass up this chance. Once the medicine was administered, she had one task and one task only for the rest of the evening.

  She could barely see through the lusty haze as they came up on the enclosure. Alex moved on auto pilot as Timak removed the medicine from a package. Zatar waited with strained patience as Alex prepped the syringe and sanitized everything. Then she headed for Sala at the back of the enclosure; the lioness had barely moved an inch from where she’d been earlier that day.

  Timak and Zatar came over as she knelt down at Sala’s side. She flicked the syringe once, pleased by the spurt of fluid from the top. Her cheeks flushed as she imagined Zatar’s own spurting syringe hidden away in his pants. Focus, Alex. This syringe is not a metaphor for a man ejaculating.

  The bamboo mat rustled beneath her as she crept nearer. Sala didn’t stir—most likely dead asleep. And that would be better for the injection. Alex stuck the needle deep into her flank without a second thought.

  A low growl emerged, and Sala stirred, pushing up to sitting while the medication sank into her. Alex grimaced as Sala’s angry gaze swung her way. And then the lioness swiped a paw at her; fresh claw marks bled bright and red on Alex’s upper thigh.

  “Sala!” Zatar rushe
d over to his lioness, his eyes flitting between Sala and Alex’s leg. Alex grimaced against the burning pain as she finished the injection. She should have known to check that Sala was truly asleep before beginning the shot. She cursed at herself, withdrawing the syringe once it was empty. Damn sexy thoughts had interfered with her job. What’s gotten into you?

  Zatar stroked Sala, who had calmed, while watching Alex with worry etched onto his face. “Are you okay?”

  * * *

  “I’m fine.” Alex grimaced as she pushed to standing. Blood trickled down her leg. “I’ve gotten far worse scratches than this.”

  Zatar clambered to standing, his heart hammering in his chest as he led her away from the lioness. Sala must have been scared if she swiped at Alex. And now Alex was injured. He just hoped the medicine did its job and all this trouble was worth it. Alex limped beside him as they exited the enclosure.

  “Timak, please retrieve the first aid kit.” Zatar helped Alex sit on a nearby bench. She groaned a little as she stretched her leg out across the top of it.

  Zatar analyzed the best course of action for treating her wound. After sterilizing the scratches, she would need a well-wrapped bandage. The wound sat high on her thigh, partially obscured by her shorts. She tugged the fabric further up her leg, wincing as she did.

  “Here. We should move you into the zookeeper’s office.” He jerked his chin toward a small office just down the path. “You need to take those shorts off to make sure we wrap you properly.”

  She snorted with a laugh. In a sultry voice, she said, “You just want me to take my pants off.”

  He cracked a grin, looking behind them for evidence of Timak. “I want that more than you can believe.”

  They shared a heated smile, and Zatar helped her to her feet. She leaned heavily on his arm as they hobbled toward the office.